Handsprings

Each season has its charms, but none is quite so intoxicating as spring. This spring's crop of new poetry books for children includes several wonderful titles to help readers of all ages appreciate the many facets of spring, including flowers, rain and, of course, mud, as celebrated here by Douglas Florian: The spring rains came and made a flood, so now there's mud and mud and mud. The only...

oetry were cooking, Douglas Florian would undoubtedly be considered a master chef. In previous books like On the Wing, A Pig Is Big and Insectlopedia, he has developed a distinctive cuisine guaranteed to tempt the most finicky poetry reader. Florian's new book, lizards, frogs, and polliwogs, is no exception. Here are some of the ingredients of his never-fail recipe: Â Begin with children's...